Question

I have been practising meditation since 2010. But for the past 1.5 years I have troubles in doing meditation due to personal problems. My mind is strongly working against my will to meditate. Is there anyway to overcome this? Or as Yoganandaji has pointed out, is my Karma preventing me from doing meditation. If so, how can I work out this ? or is this my self-justification for not doing meditation ?

—Jala, India

Answer

Dear friend,

It sometimes seems that as soon as we get serious about our meditation practice (as you have done in continuing your practice since 2010), that is when the world, our karma, and maya conspire to create obstacles to our practice. To commit yourself to having meditation as a regular part of your life means that, no matter what, you will meditate each day. The trick is to figure out how to make this possible when things get difficult.

I would suggest that you simply promise yourself, and commit to this promise, that you will meditate each day at a certain time and for a certain amount of time. Make the length of time something that you can actually do right now, and then do it! Practice whatever meditation techniques you have and don’t dwell on the results you are receiving during meditation. Instead, pray to God and your guru and let them know you are there to spend time with them through your meditation practices. This brings devotion into your practice and should gradually make it easier to sit to meditate.

Don’t think too much about what you “should” be able to do in meditation, but just “show up” and do it. Sometimes the energies blocking your ability to meditate can’t be understood by the rational mind, but can be gradually changed by simply doing your meditation practices the best way you are able to at the time.

This way, your energy will gradually change over time and be drawn into a flow that is more compatible once again with meditating. Then you will find that you can meditate again and in a better way. In fact, going through an experience like this will make you and your practice even stronger.

Question

Hello,

How do you know if the path you’re on is the right one in life? If the person you’re with, is the right one for you? What does one do when they have seemingly everything but something feels amiss — How does one rid themselves of this feeling and bring about contentment? (Of knowing they’re doing the right thing in life and making the right choices?)

—Nirja , Germany

Answer

Dear Nirja,

All the questions you’ve asked refer back to the topic of inner guidance. When we finally come to the point where we are seeking a deeper understanding of how to live our lives in a better way, we need to know where to look. The answers to the questions that you’ve asked all lie within your own Self, which of course refers to your higher Self. It’s not that we won’t ask for guidance from others who may be able to help us, but the answers they give need to find a resonance within us or we won’t be able to use them.

Inner guidance comes when we have a daily practice of inward listening, which is also called meditation. As you quiet your mind, and begin to still your restless thoughts, then answers to questions such as the ones you’ve asked will begin to come. This is the listening aspect of meditation.

To get to the point of being able to listen effectively, it is most helpful to have a meditation technique for concentration. Ananda does offer online meditation classes, and also has a section on meditation on the Ananda.org Home Page. This will show you some of the basics of how to get started.

Once you have begun a meditation practice, then you can also begin listening more effectively. This happens best at the end of your meditation time, when your mind is more still and concentrated. It is a period spent without the practice of techniques and in communion and inward listening.

During this time you can mentally offer up a question to the Divine within, doing so at the point between the eyebrows. As you mentally offer your question, try to be as open and non-attached as possible to the potential answer you might receive. Then listen and feel in the heart center (in the center of your chest), for an answer. The answer won’t necessarily come in words, but perhaps more in feeling. This is a subtle time, and the answer to your question will usually come in more subtle ways; so listen intently within.

Once you feel you have received some direction in this way, then test it out by using it in your daily life. Don’t move forcefully ahead in this direction at first, but test it out and see how it feels. Does it feel like a good direction to go in or not? Use your common sense at this point as well.

Swami Kriyananda was once asked how one develops intuition, which is what I have described above. His answer was simple: “By using it!” But by using it sensitively, and without presuming that you’ve received the final answer to what you’ve asked. Feel your way, and you’ll find yourself being able to discover deeper answers to the kinds of questions you have asked above.

In divine friendship,
Nayaswami Parvati

]]>40304Mind and the States of Our Consciousnesshttps://www.ananda.org/ask/mind-states-consciousness/
Wed, 15 Jun 2016 19:40:15 +0000https://www.ananda.org/?post_type=ask&p=40048

Question

What is mind? Does it have any physical existence? Why do we identify ourselves with it and what would happen if we create a separation from it ?

—Archit, India

Answer

Dear Archit,

I will give you the description of mind and the other parts of our consciousness as Paramhansa Yogananda described them. They are the progressive stages of involvement with maya that are traced through the functions of human consciousness.

Paramhansa Yogananda illustrated these basic functions by a horse seen in a mirror. He said that the mirror is the “mind” (mon) which shows us the image as it appears to us through the senses; the mind alone cannot qualify or define that image. The “intellect” (buddhi) then defines what is seen, informing our intellect, “That is a “horse.”

The “ego” (ahankara) then appears, declaring, “That is my horse”. Up to this point we are not necessarily yet bound by the thought of ownership; the identification, though personal, may still remain more or less abstract. If, then, “feeling” (chitta) comes onto the scene, saying, “How happy I am to see my horse!” true ego-bondage begins. Chitta is our emotional reaction, including likes and dislikes, desires and aversions. It is the true source of ego-bondage, and the essence of all delusion.

This is why the ancient classical exponent of yoga science, Patanjali, defined yoga itself as “the neutralization of the vorices (vrittis) of feeling (chitta).”Yogananda asked a group of pundits in India to state, from their own experience, where these four aspects of consciousness are located in the body. They were unable to do so as this understanding is not stated in any of the scriptures. Yogananda went on to state that the mind is located at the top of the head, the intellect at the point between the eyebrows, the ego at the medulla oblongata at the base of the brain, and feeling in the heart.

We cannot “create” a separation from these aspects of our consciousness, as we are not the creators of them. They are simply who we are. All of this information is taken from the book The New Path by Swami Kriyananda in the Chapter on Kriya Yoga. I hope it will be helpful to you.

Question

Please can you explain the meaning of the words to the chant "Deliver us from delusion"?

Blessings,

Karen

—Karen B, USA

Answer

Dear Karen,

Think ye in thy heart, lotus feet of thy Guru
If you want to cross the ocean of delusion
Shaming the white lotus in purity
Beyond all duality
Guru image of Brahma
Deliver us from delusion

The above are the words to the chant you have asked about. If we want to cross the ocean of delusion and escape from the grip of duality, we need to always keep in our heart the guru. Beyond our own efforts to attune to the guru’s consciousness through meditation and right action, it is the guru’s grace that will ultimately lift us into the light. The guru’s consciousness is pure and beyond all duality, and is a reflection of the image of Brahma, or God. It is the guru, as this messenger of God, who finally has the grace, or power, to deliver us from delusion.

In addition, a number of words have taken on other meanings today. I think the word shame is still used occasionally in the way it is used in this chant. It simply means that even the white lotus, a symbol of purity, is not equivalent to, and doesn’t even come close to, the purity of the guru, his consciousness and his power. The guru is “triguna rahitam” — beyond the power and influence of the three gunas and, therefore, or duality.

Question

Hi

i faced a death experience like ramanamaharshi 5 years back. After that my life changed and i came to surrender gradually. Now i am facing a situation. I dont have anything to do. No significant work is coming in my way, other than normal daily activities . I dont understand why god is making me sit idle. Could you please explain to me the purpose behind sitting idle.

Rajesh

—RAJESH, INDIA

Answer

Dear friend,

I’m not sure what death experience you are referring to in regard to Ramana Maharshi, but whatever happened to you it sounds as though it produced a good influence that changed your life. Your present question is interesting in that you assume that it is God who is doing something to you. This is not so. It is our own karma, meaning our own self-initiated actions over many lifetimes, that determines what comes to us in life. God doesn’t “do” anything to us. Whatever comes our way does so from our own actions. With that understanding, then the present time for you may be one of a pause before you feel the inspiration to begin to move in a different direction.

I don’t think there is any purpose in sitting idle. If you are not asking for guidance during this time, and putting out the energy to draw it to you, it’s not certain that anything will come to you. It is we who must begin to engage in life, and not wait for “life” to come to us. During Paramhansa Yogananda’s lifetime in America, the country passed through a great econimic depression in the 1930s, when 25% of the population was out of work. Yogananda’s response to this, when he spoke with people who were looking for work during this difficult time, was to motivate them to action. He said, “If I were without work, I would stir the ether and never give up until I found a job!”
In other words, his advice to people was to engage in intense activity, generating more and more energy and magnetism, which would in turn attract the employment they were seeking.

I hope you soon find what your next step is. I would suggest that you take Yogananda’s advice and experiment with it in your own life right now. I think it will produce the results you are looking for.

Question

Can meditation increase our awareness and intuitive experiences?

—Archit, India

Answer

Dear Archit,

Yes, meditation can indeed increase your awareness and intuitive perception. This is because you are calming your mind in meditation and going to the center of your being. The perceptions that are gained in meditation come to us when we have stilled the mind and calmed the emotional waves of feeling in the heart. It is at that point that deeper perceptions and understanding are possible.

To achieve this requires both a good meditation technique for stilling the mind, and an understanding of how to calm the heart’s feelings. In addition, it is necessary to commit to a daily practice of meditation. Your awareness is increased in meditation because you are able to go beyond the senses and perceive a much broader reality both within and all around you.

In the Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda describes his first deep experience of cosmic consciousness, given to him by his guru Sri Yukteswar. Although this is not what most meditators will experience at first, as your practice deepens this is the direction that it will take you in. At the very least, meditation will give you peace. And as you pursue a meditation practice, it will lead you in the direction of expanded awareness, intuitive perception, and a much broader understanding of life itself.

If you are interested in pursuing this, I would suggest that you contact Ananda in India at — www.anandaindia.org. They offer classes, both in person and online, that can help you with this. Ananda India has a number of teaching centers located throughout the country.

Question

I have been deeply hurt by my family members.They have all mistreated me, and I am suffering a great deal of mental anguish and have a terrible level of anger inside toward them.I have continuously helped all of them in life despite their behavior.I don’t understand why I was born into such a family where no one understands me, and one where I am constantly mocked, undermined, and then relied on for help.What is the purpose of my suffering?

—ss, U.S.A

Answer

Dear SS,

There is so much in this world that seems so unfair and that we don’t understand. I remember Swami Kriyananda quoting Yogananda who said about a certain person and situation, “If you could see the karma!”

Everything that happens to us is determined by our karma, meaning our own actions from this current life as well as previous lives. This idea may be a difficult one to accept, but it is the truth. All great masters and saints have said that the law of karma is absolute: for every action (that we have ever done in our many lifetimes as a human being) there must be an opposite and equal re-action that will come to us. As long as we have a post of ego and the self-definitions that go with that ego, then our karma from past actions will come back to us again and again.

Our karma is what determines our life circumstances in every way. It is not from DNA or our upbringing that we are molded, but from our karma. The DNA, and the choice of a family that we are born into, is totally determined by our karma. So what can we do about this situation? As we come to terms with understanding our life and the role of karma in it, then there can come a level of acceptance of our circumstances that wasn’t possible before. We begin to realize that the reason we are here in this world is to become more free inwardly by working out our karma. The more we begin to live our live in this way, the more free we become. When we come onto the spiritual path more actively, then we begin to understand and accept how karma works in our life. By doing so we have a better chance of working out our karma more quickly.

In your particular situation with your family, this will be very important. I would suggest that you begin by impersonalizing your relationship with your family members by not expecting them to respond in a particular way to the service you offer them. The service you offer needs to be more impersonal, and done as an offering to the divine. How your family responds to your service is up to them, and will produce karma for them as well. But try to feel yourself more and more acting without desire for any particular response from others, but with a free, loving and joyful self-offering to the divine — the guru, Divine Mother, or whatever aspect of God that you find inspiring.

I hope these suggestions will be helpful. I know that being in close contact with others can produce a very challenging situation. But also remember: your soul has chosen this particular situation for your spiritual growth. Do the best you can outwardly and with the right attitude, and then let God take care of the rest. And find time to have satsang with others who are spiritual and who can help you to grow in your own inward strength. If this is possible, it will help you a lot.

Question

Hello. Do the departed dear ones remember us as we remember them intensely. If they remember how to know. Do they come more in thoughts. I miss my father a lot. He was my greatest blessing of my life. I never ever want to part with him. How to be happy without work. And slipping into inertia Thank u

—Geeta, India

Answer

Dear friend,

Thank you for your question. I’m sure many people wonder about this time after death and what happens to us as well as to those we love. Paramhansa Yogananda, a Self-realized master and my guru, spoke clearly about the time after death. It is because of this that we do have some reliable information for understanding what happens at that time.

Yogananda said that after death the soul goes to the astral world and has a time to recover from the experiences of that lifetime. Some souls go into a deep sleep to do this and are not very aware of anything around them. Other souls, who have died more consciously, may experience great joy and be aware of the beautiful astral world around them.

Much like in this world, in the astral world souls are drawn to the vibration and consciousness that they themselves have. Much more is involved in what happens after death to a soul than I can relate to you here. But I would recommend that you use the links below to read two excellent articles by Yogananda on this subject: Understanding Death and How to Solve the Mystery of Live After Death. The first of these has a section in it about how to contact departed loved ones.

Question

Why do people need to look the same and wear blue. It seems groups always do this tibet wear orange.kundalini yogis wear white. I think that there is sonething very odd about this. thank you

—pamela, usa

Answer

Dear friend,

Thank you for your question. I hope I can clarify this for you. Far from people needing to look the same and wear the same color of clothing, wearing a particular color usually suggests that a person has made a spiritual commitment in their life.

The colors and the clothing are merely the outward expression of a deepening inner commitment to something that is very meaningful to the person wearing them.

For instance, in India the color orange has been associated with the Swami order for hundreds of years, symbolizing that an individual has made a commitment to a life of renunciation. When walking on the streets in India, you can easily spot those who are swamis by the color they wear.

In our time, Swami Kriyananda felt inspired to establish a new swami order, called the Nayaswami (or new swami) order. The color blue, a bright royal blue, is worn because it suggests calmness, kindness, and an expansion of consciousness. The Nayaswami order is “samadhi affirming” rather than life negating in its outlook and purpose.

So the colors worn can send a message of both the spiritual commitment of an individual, as well as the message of the quality of the color itself.

I hope these explanations will be helpful in providing you with a better understanding of why people do this. You can find further information about this on the website www.nayaswami.org.

Question

I suffered from mental disorders for last 3yrs. The experience was very terrifying.Now I am free of it but am not able to accept whatever has happened.Innerly I feel god is the cause(indictd in scriptures).I am much isolated now since I dont want to be called depressed.I practiced meditation,due to restlessness,couldn’t get any answer.When practicing bhakti,i feel severe pain because cant accept loving god.I dont know how to hear god’s voice.

—Pavan Kumar, India

Answer

Dear friend,

I am sorry to hear about your experience of the past three years, and am glad to hear that you are recovered. It can take some time to shake off the effect of the strong experiences you have had and to completely understand why this would happen to you. When you once again are able to be with other people, then I would suggest that you choose your company wisely. Seek out those people who will not judge you in any way, and who are generally happy and supportive individuals. Do not associate with those who have a negative vibration, or who you feel will judge you or affect you negatively.

Perhaps this experience happened to you so you can understand others who suffer in this way. You will understand their suffering from your own experience, and be able to help them more than others can. Perhaps this will only be through praying for them, rather than more directly. But the kind of experience you have been through can help develop compassion for others, if you choose to use it in this way.

Simply stated, God does not cause anything to happen to us. It is we ourselves who draw our experiences to us, both good and bad. This is the law of karma. I know this can be difficult to accept, but it is the truth. I also think you know this, otherwise you wouldn’t be concerned that you that you don’t know how to hear God’s voice.

For now, try to feel God’s presence in a natural way, without the confines of a more formal bhakti practice. God is in everything, and is everything, so just enjoy His presence in the simple things you already enjoy, knowing He is there in that feeling of enjoyment. Perhaps going for a walk that you already enjoy, having a simple meal with God, or other things like this. Include God in your daily activities, and talk with Him as a friend about your present struggles, fears, and concerns.

See if this can help you once again to open the door to this Friend of all friends. I would suggest that you wait to take up a meditation practice again until you feel that it will be helpful for you.